(Metroxylon sago) ; the gomuti, or cabo-negro of the Spaniards (Borassus gomuti) :
the Palmyra, or lontar, (Borassus flabelliformis) ; and the areca, or pinang, (Areca
catechu). Those put extensively to economical uses, but not cultivated because
spontaneously produced in abundance, are the nibung, (Caryota urens) ; the palmetto,
or mpa, (Nipa fruticosa) ; the common ratan, (Calamus rotan); and the dragon’s-
blood ratan, (Calamus draco). Some account of all these will be found under their
respective heads.
PALM-WINE. The sap of palms is called in Javanese, tuwak; and in Malay,
nera and tuwak. The palm chiefly used for the production of this liquor in the
Malay islands, is the gomuti, or sagwire ; and in the Philippines, this and the nipa.
The coco-palm is too valuable, on account of its oil, to be so employed. The sap of
palms is, to the inhabitants of these islands and of other inter-tropical countries,
what wine is to the countries of southern Europe ; cider and beer to those of the
northern, and the sap of the agave to the Mexicans. But it is in some respects
more useful than any of these, for it is produced with less labour, and yields,
by the simple process of boiling, the chief supply of sugar for native consumption.
PAMANUKAN, (“ place of birds.” ) This is the name of a district of Java, in the
country of the Sundas, and on the northern side of the island. During the British
occupation, it contained 124 villages; and a computed population of 18,475 inhabitants,
all of the Sunda nation, at present, probably, greatly increased. It forms
part of the province of Krawang.
PA MARUANG. The name of a considerable island on the eastern coast of Borneo
with a computed area of 480 geographical square miles. It forms part of the delta
of the Cootie river, and is mostly covered with jungle.
PAMPANGA. This is the name of one of the finest provinces of the island of
Luzon, in the Philippines. I t is bounded to the south-east by Bulacan, to the northwest
by Pangasinan, to the west by Zambales, while the northern shore of the bay
of Manilla forms its southern boundary. Prom north to south it is 68 miles in
length, and from east to west 51 miles broad. Its area will probably be about 2260
geographical miles. The more elevated portion of the province enjoys a cool and
delicious climate, but is under-cultivated and under-peopled. The lower is hot but
healthy, highly cultivated and densely peopled. Here the principal crops are rice
and maiz, the same land yielding one crop of the first of these and one crop of the
last, sometimes even two within the year. The other chief crops are tobacco, sugarcane,
sesame, and cacoa. The coco-palm does not flourish so well as in some other
provinces of Luzon. Great quantities of fruit are raised in it for the market of
Manilla. In the mountains, good iron ore is found, and some gold is washed from
the sands of the brooks. In the forest, deer, buffalos, and hogs are so numerous
that in a single year as many as 3000 have been killed. As far back as 1818, thé
number of oxen belonging to Pampanga was 13,000, of buffalos, 23,000, and of horses
12,000. The inhabitants are of the same race with the Malayan Tagalas and Bisayas’
but of a distinct nation from both, speaking a different language, called, like thé
province, Pampanga. The twenty-five townships of which Pampanga is composed
contained in 1818, a population of 106,381 souls, which, by the census of 1850, had
risen to 156,272, making the relative population about 68 to the square mile. * The
chief town of the province is Bacolor, about 10J leagues distant from Manilla,
and in latitude 15° 15'. This is in the interior of the province, on the right bank
of a river of the same name ; and contains a population of 8737 inhabitants with
1456 houses, for the most part native huts of temporaiy materials. Pampanga
was subdued by Martin Goiti, one of the lieutenants of Legaspi, as early as the
years 1571 and 1572, and the conquest was effected by a force of 80 Spaniards a
striking proof of the feeble resistance made by the natives of the Philippines to their
invaders.
PANAMAO. This is the name of a considerable Philippine island a t the northern
end of that of Leyte, and divided from it by a narrow strait, which forms a safe
harbour with the land of the main island. It is inhabited, and forms a portion of
the township of Leyte, and province of the same name.
PANAON. This is the name of an islet a t the southern end of the Bisayan
island, Leyte. I t is described as being nine leagues long and three broad ; and its
centre to be in latitude 9° 33', but no other facts are stated regarding it.
PANAT is the name of the largest of the Philippine islands after Mindano; and
of the whole Archipelago the most fertile and densely peopled. It is separated from
Negros to the east by a channel which, in its narrowest part, does not exceed four
miles broad. To the west, nothing lies between it and the distant Calamianes Islands
and Paragua or northern end of Palawan, except the little Cuyos Islands. To
the north it is, at least, 90 geographical miles distant from the nearest part of Luzon,
the islands Burias, Tablas, and Sibuyan intervening; while its southern part is about
130 miles from the nearest part of Mindano. The form of Panay is a triangle, of
which the base is to the north, and the apex to the south. Its greatest length is
95 geographical miles, and its area has been computed at 3960 square geographical
miles, or near double the size of the British island of Trinidad. A chain of high
mountains runs through it from north to south, but of its elevation or formation we
have no account. i „
The soil of Panay, well irrigated by abundant mountain streams, is eminently fertile,
its staple products being rice, sugar-cane, cotton, coffee, tobacco, pepper, and
cacoa. Its forests yield ebony and sapan-weed; and its shores and rivers abound in
fish, including the mother-of-pearl oyster, the tripang, and tortoise. The mass of
the inhabitants consist of the Bieaya nation, speaking a dialect of the same language
as those of Negros, £ebu, and Leyte; but in the mountains there are negritos, or
little negros, stated to be of the same race with those of Luzon and Negros, although
nothing regarding them, beyond their bare existence, is really known; and that here,
as elsewhere, they preserve their wild independence, in the inaccessible recesses of
the mountains. In 1850, Panay contained a population of 566,957, equal to 145
inhabitants to the square mile. This makes it the most populous island of the Philippines,
yet not above one-fourth part of the populousness of some parts of Java of
the same extent, and full 100 short of the average density of that island. In 1799,
it had a population of no more than 271,748, so that if these statements can be
relied on, the population, in the course of half a century, had more than doubled
itself. Panay exports rice, sugar, and its other staples to a considerable extent, to
Luzon, and to some of the less productive islands in its neighbourhood. It was
conquered, or at least occupied by Legaspi on his way to the conquest of Luzon.
Here he found the supply of food which £ebu was incapable of furnishing. I t is,
at present, divided into three provinces, called Capiz, Iloilo, and Antiqne, having
between them 46 townships. See these heads.
PANCHUR. This is one of four low alluvial islands, which seem a t a distance
to be but parts of the eastern side of Sumatra, being divided from it by a very narrow
but navigable channel, called by European navigators Brewer’s Straits, but by the
natives S&lat-panjang, or the long strait. The principal inhabitants of this and of
its neighbouring islands are of the Malayan race and nation, speak a rude Malay
language, are in a very low state of society, and like the inhabitants of the interior
of the Malay Peninsula have not adopted the Mahommedan religion. Their chief
employment is the cultivation of the sago-palm. The name Pulo-panchur signifies
in Malay, "spouting or gushing island.” I t is subject to the Malay prince of
Campar.
PAND*AN. This is the native name of a family of plants which botanists,
Latinising, have adopted for a genus, and for the natural family of “ screw pines.
The name, and at least two species of the genus, prevail over all the countries from
Sumatra to Luzon. One species, the Pandan-wangi of the Malays and Javanese, the
Pandanus odoratissimus of botanists, yields the perfumed flowers which are as much
in repute with the Malays as they are with the Hindus.^ The tough rigid leaves are
used in mat and basket-making. The word “ pandan” is both Malay and Javanese,
and from them has spread to many other tongues. I t has no other signification
than the name of the plant. Some European writers tell us that its meaning is “ to
see or observe,” but this is a mistake, arising from imperfect knowledge. The verb
to see or observe is written with a dental d, and ends with the nasal ng, whereas the
name of the plant has a palatal d, and ends with a nasal n, not to say that the last
vowel of the two words differs.. This is a good example of hasty etymology.
Pand'an is a name frequently given to places, as Pulo-pand’an, or Pand*an Island,
in the Straits of Malacca, and in the Philippines, I see it given to no fewer than
eleven different places, none of them, however, of any importance.
PANGARANGO. The name of one of the highest mountains of Java in th<*
district of Bogor and country of the Sundas, 10,500 feet above the level of the sea.